Dropper Posts - Do they work yet and are they the future?

I've had Maverick, Crank bros, GD & Reverb. All were ok but reverb is very good indeed. They all have a bit of movement but crank Bros/maverick worst of all. To be fair once you're riding you don't even notice. I like and use mine a lot but don't think they're essential kit.

I've had Maverick, Crank bros, GD & Reverb. All were ok but reverb is very good indeed. They all have a bit of movement but crank Bros/maverick worst of all. To be fair once you're riding you don't even notice. I like and use mine a lot but don't think they're essential kit.

I have one, used a few times from BNIB, MIP if you want it. £15-ish posted. Not bad, better/faster than nothing but not really an alternative.
Still not made the move to a dropper, I don't ride with my saddle that high, my Rocket V is narrow and my bike is pretty short, so getting off the back is no issue. I see some riding with saddles so high it's no wonder they need a dropper .. Great idea though. I'd use one if I was riding steeper stuff that went on for more than a minute or 2 more regularly.

They make technical descents more fun as it's easier throw the bike around without risking the saddle coming up and it throwing you off. I put up with a QR seat post on my HT as it tends to be ridden in filthy condition that would quickly kill the dropper.

I dont think they add much to non technical descents. When you stand on your pedals with saddle up, you still have inches of clearance to move around in.

I say the same thing in every dropper thread, my Soda doesn't have any suspension but it still has a dropper post- riding without suspension can be fun, but riding without a dropper is just irritating.

I feel as though I have to come back on this one. I'm really surprised that so many people use these things and/or feel the need to drop their seats. I can sort of remember doing it 20 years ago, but it never occurs to me now. I'm just a mincer, obviously. Surely, they can't be at the same level of usefulness a suspension and disc brakes though, that is plainly ridiculous. Are you sure that you users aren't just trying to justify another expensive purchase?

Bought a 2nd-hand Joplin, then a cheap hydraulic one and then a GD when that inevitably died. The first two were painful to live with but convinced me of their usefulness. It fits perfectly for the kind of riding I do most: constant short sharp climbs and descents, no more than 100m at a time. Before I'd just ride with my saddle too low all the time because the inefficiency was preferable to not being able to move around when it got technical.

I was the first in my area to get one and everyone was dubious at first to the added weight and usefullness ("It'd only be useful in the Alps" was a popular argument). Now they all have them, and that's probably precisely because this isn't the Alps.

As someone else on here said, it depends on what/where you ride. Im XC bit of AM..if I go down a steep drop I put my arse over the back of the seat, job done. If I was DH then my seat would be low all the time anyway because what downhiller rides uo hills eh?

Only been riding for 3 years but love my dropper post. Dropped saddle means that the consequences for getting it wrong seem much less serious (mainly inelegant dismounts rather than being hurled off by high saddle) and a dropper post encourages you not to be lazy about dropping the post (or putting it up for climbing).

I was also of the school of thought that dropper posts were unnecessary until I bought one to go on my new 29er SS. I was always pretty quick on the descents and almost never dropped the saddle because 1. I couldn't be arsed to stop and 2. I hated it when raising the saddle again if it was even only 1mm too high or low from its optimal position. Since using one (KS Lev) I find that using my bikes without it feel really awkward on the descents. I use it a lot in tight singletrack too as you can get your centre of gravity that much lower and find I can really rail turns and I am much quicker! At least that is what Strava tells me!

My take on it;
Big rides in the wide open spaces? No need for a dropper.
Messing about on flowing trails (especially trail centre playgrounds)? They just make it more fun.

A prime example would be Bike Park Wales. From the top, down Sixtapod or Wibbly Wobbly, the post stays up at the top for the pedally bits, then drops for the fun. Back up when it gets pedally again. More fun. Simple, really.

Some of my bikes have worked with droppers, some haven't. My Salsa Spearfish didn't work, the post never got used, so went back to normal post. My Cube Stereo wouldn't ride it without, it's up and down like a whores drawers!

Had this same discussion with the missus recently, when she swapped to a Cube Stereo 29, it came with a normal post, I offered to put a reverb on. She wasn't sure but I convinced her to give one a try and if she didn't like it then we'd take it off.

First couple of weeks, we hit Whinlatter, Gisburn and Llandegla, where she struggled to use the post effectively. Looking back think part of it was the new bike too. This weekend at Llandegla it clicked for her, she was using it loads, riding faster, hitting things harder, at the end of the ride she admitted, it had a made a huge positive difference and wanted to keep it.

From my experience I think you have to give them a chance and try them. You'll either click with or you won't but if you do, it will massively increase your enjoyment.

In terms of which post.....I've had a mixture of Reverbs and Command Posts over the past few years. The command post was simpler mechanically and needed less maintainence, but the reverb for me whilst a little more maintainence prone, is the slicker product and works better.

I had a GD on my bike years before it became the latest craze. I found I didn't use it enough to justify carting the extra weight around. My bars are the same height as my seat though. Most others, as far as I can see, ride with the saddle much higher than the bars. I'm not surprised therefor that these people benefit from a DP. They are riding along the level in the same position that I would be in going down a reasonably steep slope.

+1 for CFH's stance, for the small time I ride at trail centres it wouldn't justify the cost

Trail centres are usually up or down, usually with a sign at the start to tell you! That's the second least useful place for a dropper (the least useful being places where it's all up or down- ie full on downhill, or really simple xc)

But "natural" trails go up and down and all over the place with no concern about your legs or even whether it's really sensible to ride a bike on them, that's when a dropper post can be at its best- those 10 metre technical sections in a mile of sheep track, or that wee drop off the riverbank, or that mess of roots or random steep bit that you'd ride around with your seat up

Just to sum up the points-
-nobody says youNEED one. Just like you don't need suspension, disc brakes or gears, they are all options you have.
-if you are singlespeed/BMX stand up style pedaler, they won't be as useful.
-they are not for alpine descents. If you've just spent 3 hours climbing, taking a minute to drop your seat with a QR will be a welcome relief.
-they are for trails that go up and down, up and down in short bits.
-they are not just for steep trails.
-they are great for flowy gentle descents too, as lowering your seat(a bit) makes it easier to lean the bike over further for corners and really move vertically on the bike to pump the terrain.
-they make riding more fun, as you can play with the terrain more
-they make tricky climbs easier. Say you're riding up a hill and there's a steep ledge halfway up. Seat up for easy seated pedaling, then drop it a bit to be able to lurch up the ledge.
-they make riding scary stuff less so and less dangerous.

I have tried it and verified that I'd rather ride a hardtail with a dropper than a full suspension without.

I agree (as long as your riding isn't just snaking around flat woodland on a lightweight XC bike etc).

I do a bit of everything - big rides in the Peaks, trail centre stuff, 1 hour rides from my door taking in as much stupid steep stuff as my body will cope with etc. I've said it before but I use my Reverb almost as often as my gears and I really wouldn't be without it because it really does make riding (for me) more enjoyable.

Example, theres a very nice but unchallenging singletrack down the side of the park at the end of my road. Pre-dropper I'd have just attacked it as fast as I could but not gone totally bonkers as its only 100m long at the most and no much elevation drop so hardly worth stopping and dropping my post for. Post-dropper I'll knock it down just an inch or two and I'll be launching off every root I see, hopping logs and generally just trying to be **** stupid. At the bottom I'll simply push a button, the seat rises to normal pedally height and I'll be on my way along the road towards the next bit of trail (which is seat slammed territory).

Obviously not everyones riding suits a dropper but for me, its a game changer.

For those saying you don't need one, of course you are right, you don't 'need' one, but for me they rank alongside suspension and disc brakes - both of which I don't 'need' either - but all make my riding so much more enjoyable.

Pre-dropper, I was always the one faffing with my seatpost. The problem is exacerbated for me by having long legs and a short torso, so a high saddle and limited reach - getting right off the back on steeps was nigh on impossible, as the back of the saddle would be right in my nads and my arms at full stretch, giving me no control.

Other than that, simply lowering your centre of gravity on the not so steep, but swoopy stuff is absolutely the right thing to do - if you are riding with your saddle right up, you are definitely not in the optimum position for controlling your bike.

Trail centres are usually up or down, usually with a sign at the start to tell you!

Not sure I fully agree.

Some examples would include;
Odin/Gatekeeper at Cwm Carn. Pedally, swoopy, uppy downy.
R74 at CYB - Some steep stuff, some swoopy stuff. Ideal.
The end of Climachx at Mach - Again, variable terrain
Mark of Zorro at NYA - Almost perfect example, where being able to adjust on the fly really helps

As you might be able to tell, I run a Reverb on my trail centre gnarpoon, and it's ace! When out around Salisbury Plain, or when I get round to exploring the trails around my new place, I don't see the need for one.

Hmmm. Familiarity with my local trails means that there are no surprises and I'd like to think I ride them with some finesse rather than bluster. My saddle is at about handlebar height and I don't feel as though dropping it would be any help because it doesn't occur to me that it's in the way, but I feel as though I'm maybe missing something.